Meta has announced the elimination of 600 positions within its Artificial Intelligence (AI) team as part of a strategy to create a more efficient workforce. This decision was communicated by Alexandr Wang, Meta’s Chief AI Officer, who emphasized the importance of reducing excess layers within the organization and retaining only essential personnel. Earlier this year, Meta expanded its workforce significantly as part of a $14.3 billion initiative to enhance its AI capabilities. However, the company now believes that the team has grown excessively large. The majority of the layoffs will impact the FAIR (Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research) unit and the product teams responsible for developing AI tools.
Some employees have expressed concerns that the AI division has become overcrowded, with research teams like FAIR having to share resources with product teams. The establishment of new Superintelligence Labs further increased the size of the AI division. Following the announcement of the layoffs, numerous Meta employees voiced their concerns on an online platform called Blind, indicating that job security in AI roles is now in doubt.
